Chapter 8 #2
I take a deep breath and tell him, “Yes, she’s been there since I was in first grade.”
He gets off his knees and sits beside me on the bed. The mattress dips, causing me to tip towards him a bit. I catch myself by placing my hand quickly on his large bicep, and I pull my hand back quickly.
Patch presses his lips together for a brief moment before saying, “You’re under my protection, and I take that responsibility seriously.
There is no way in hell I’m gonna let that asshole stepfather of yours fuck up the medical placement she needs to survive.
Your sister is now mine to protect too.”
I feel something in my chest loosening. His words give me hope that working together, we can protect her. Patch is a good man. I always thought he was but now I know it. I stare up at him. “How can we stop him if he’s the one with guardianship?”
He leans forward with his elbows braced on his knees and the blanket around his waist draping down so far, I can clearly see his happy trail.
“We tear it all down. First thing, I’m calling the care home.
I need to hear from them what authority he actually has.
If guardianship passed to him after your mom, we’ll verify it.
For all we know, he could be bluffing about that. ”
Handing me back the phone, he says, “I need you to text back and forth with your stepfather. I don’t think he texted enough so far about his intent to harm her to challenge his guardianship.”
“I can do that,” I assure him eagerly.
“Good, when you text him back, plead with him to keep your sister in her placement. Tell him she won’t survive at home because he doesn’t know how to provide care for her, and she regularly needs medical support from trained professionals.
Unless I miss my guess, he’s stupid enough to incriminate himself. ”
My fake fiancé is a clever man. I excitedly grab my phone from his hand and begin typing out a text. I’m anxious at first but that gives way to happiness as I realize that Patch is right. “Is this the kind of thing we need?” I ask, turning the phone around for him to see.
He reads the text out loud. “I don’t care about your sister. She’s just a drain on public resources anyway. I care about you, Elizabeth. I’ve got big plans for you that don’t include being married to a man who can’t decide if he wants to be a doctor or a biker.”
“That’s exactly what we need. Now keep texting him, asking why he wants you to come home and see if you can get him to admit to anything else incriminating.”
After several exchanges, I frown. “He’s not saying anything about trafficking me.”
Patch rolls his eyes. “He must have an ounce of common sense then. Good for him.” He continues, “Next, we’ll visit her care home, and I’ll try to get a handle on exactly what her needs are. We’ll talk to her about what she needs and wants for herself.”
“I’m pretty sure that doesn’t entail going home with my stepfather. She hates him.”
“She’s in good company. I fucking hate him as well.
” After a thoughtful pause, he adds, “We’ll make a report to adult protective services, handing over the text information.
If they don’t immediately file for a petition to terminate guardianship, you and I will file for a court injunction to keep her from being removed from her current placement pending approval by the court.
That’ll keep him from pulling her out before a judge looks at the case. ”
“I don’t know what I was thinking by trying to do this alone. I should have talked to you sooner. This is medical and that puts it squarely in your wheelhouse.”
“Being a doctor. That gives me credibility. And now that I’ve patched in, I’ve got brothers who’ll stand behind me.
We have an outstanding club attorney. I’ll sic him on your stepfather as well.
That man is biting off more than he can chew by going after you and your sister.
I’m gonna make damn good and sure he doesn’t get to either of you. ”
“Thank you,” I whisper. Sitting here naked with our bodies covered with quickly snatched bedding, I realize that no matter how hard I look, I will literally never find another man like Patch.
He’s one of a kind, smart, decisive, worldly and willing to step up, even for my sister, who’s never even met him.
I feel like I’m nothing but trouble for this kindhearted biker, but I don’t say that because I don’t want to plant any ideas in his mind.
His eyes soften for a second, then he stands letting the blanket slip away. “Come on. Let’s grab a shower.”
My eyes widen. “You mean together?”
“We’ve already seen everything God gave us…” his mouth twists, the faintest ghost of a smirk, “…the least we can do is conserve time so we can get started on saving that sister of yours.”
My face flushes because I literally cannot stop staring at his huge cock, mostly because it’s at face level when he’s standing in front of me. Plus, I’m fascinated with the damn thing. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“Beth.” His voice cuts the protest short, but it’s gentler this time. “We don’t have time to debate. Let’s just agree to keep our gazes at eye level and get on with it.”
Suddenly, I feel childish for being hesitant. Therefore, when he turns and walks towards the bathroom, I follow him, letting my sheet slip away too.
Patch starts the shower and adjusts the temperature.
The bathroom fills with steam pretty quickly.
He steps aside for me to enter first, and I step under the spray.
The water is just a tad hotter than I normally like but I adjust quickly.
He joins me, his big body crowding me to the front of the stall.
We do exactly what he said by keeping our eyes on each other’s faces as we grope for soap and begin scrubbing our bodies.
Patch is the one to break the awkward silence. “Do you remember anything about last night?”
I freeze up for a second, the soap almost slipping from my hands. “Some. Not all.”
His voice turns pensive, “I remember you pushing shots at me. You said I couldn’t hold my liquor, and I was determined to prove you wrong.”
Images of me refilling his shot glass over and over again as we laughed and joked around rise in my mind. “Yeah, I remember that part.”
His hand drifts down to soap up his cock. “I remember getting you off with my mouth. Twice.”
Heat floods my face yet again. I turn into the spray of water cascading down from above. Hearing him say it out loud makes me remember writhing in pleasure in his bed. That must have been what he was doing, using his mouth on me.
“We didn’t have sex. I wanted to, we both wanted to, but I didn’t want your first time to be like that,” he admits, his voice growing husky.
I turn and lean against the shower tile with both hands and let the water run over my hair as I think about his words.
“Yeah, that sounds about right. I can’t remember anything else either. I’ve never had sex, but I think I’d know…”
“Then that’s what happened,” he says quietly. “That’s all that happened and nothing more. You still have your virginity intact.”
I know Patch is just trying to take all the responsibility for last night onto himself, so I don’t have to feel ashamed.
Still, something about hearing that makes me feel humiliated instead of reassured.
I’ve always been in control and getting drunk to the point that I have gaps in my memory isn’t like me at all.
Silence fills the tiny space again as I dump some shampoo into my hand and begin working my hair into a lather.
Last night we crossed a line and now nothing is the same anymore. Things are messy now, what with us ending up in bed together and Patch learning about my sister. If this were an action movie the main character would say something clever like, shit just got real.
I close my eyes against the steam and whisper, so quiet I’m not sure if he hears me. “We just need to be honest with each other, protect each other and look out for my sister.”